It's that time of year again, and I've got the travel bug! The adventures will begin with the whole family in Vietnam and Cambodia. After my dad flies home, my ma, sister, and I will explore the beaches of Thailand. Then, my sister and I are let loose to roam Southeast Asia heading towards Nepal and northern India. Mid April I fly to Zambia to volunteer for a month at Appeased School before starting work in San Francisco. Ready or not, HERE I COME!

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Sisters

To my surprise, Suzie was one of the best travel companions.
It defiantly takes a special person to spend every waking moment of 10 weeks
together and not have someone dead by the end. Yes, there were times when we
wanted to kill each other and even debated splitting up, but through it all, we
stood side by side. We could be grown up travelers one moment and have side
aching laughter like giddy children the next. Sisters have a remarkable bond
that will never break. She gets me better than anyone else. For goodness sakes,
we have the same mother and father so we understand each other. We were on the
same time schedule, financially equivalent, and showed interest in similar
things.

Traveling with her was like re-meeting an old friend. We
haven’t spent more than Christmas break together in the last 8 years. I had to
replace the shy Suzie who use to make me ask the store attendant for the
location of the bathroom with an older, mature, wardrobe-designing, young
professional. I saw a lot of her in me and vice versa. I relearned my sister’s
character, including strengths and weaknesses which often times mirror my
strengths and weaknesses. All of this caused me to learn so much about myself.
More surprising than anything, we biologically reacted very similarly to
things. We responded to drugs, sicknesses, and exhaustion in the same manner.
If I had a headache due to travel exhaustion, most likely Suzie had the same
headache.

At points in our travels, I never thought I
would travel with Suzie again in the future, but now looking back at it, I can
only smile with the good memories. I’m going to miss her this next month and am
excited for our next adventures!